Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
3L'Z~49~Z
CONN~CTING ROD ARRANGEMENT
The present invention relates generally to
connecting rods for coupling crankshafts and pistons
and to the techni~ues for fahricating and assemblin~
such arran~ements and more particularly to an im-
provement in connecting rods or reduced mass and
cost.
Connecting rocls for coupling pistons and crank-
shafts may be broadly categorized in two t~pes. The
first type referred to herein as a split ring connecting
rod is more sophisticated and expensive and may be
formed from a wide variety of materials with the ring
or portion ~hereof which surrounds the crankshaft
being formed as two split C-shaped halves each
containing an inner bearing surface and bolta~le
together, often with shims, in position about the
crankshaft. The second type referred to herein as a
one piece connecting rod includes an elongated arm
portion with enlarged annular portions at the opposite
ends thereof and is assembled by passing one of those
annular portions over an end of a crankshaft and
along the crankshaft into approximate final position
with rollers being inserted intermediate the crank-
shaft and annular portion whereupon the crankshaft is
repositioned somewhat to trap the rollers between the
annular portion and the crankshaft. The present
invention applies exclusive to this second type
connecting rod.
Connecting rods of the second type have heretofore
exclusively been formed from a steel stamping or
forging hardened by a carborizing process and having
the inner annular surface which forms the outer
' '~
~,.
.
4~;2Z
crankshaft bearing race ground to form a good bearing
surface. Two undesirable features of such known
connecting rods of the second type are their expense
and their undesirablY high mass.
Devices which convert between rotary crankshaft
motion and rec.iprocating piston motion, such as
internal combustion engines, compressors, steam
engines, and the like, vibrate or shake due to the
inertial effects of the internal moving parts~
Typically, these inertial effects are only partially
counterbalanced with the net result that the vibra-
tions experienced by such machines during operations
are determined by the masses of the several internal
moving parts with greater mass resulting in greater
vibration. Reduction in the mass of a given moving
part within such devices may also allow a reduction
in counterweight or counterbalancing masses yielding
overall vibration reduction which is substantially
greater than that due to the reduction in mass of the
moving part per se. Thus, a small reduction in mass
may result in a substantial reduction in device
vibrations.
Among the several objects of the present inven-
tion may be noted the reduction in cost of small
internal combustion engines; the reduction of vibra-
tion in small internal combustion engines; the
reduction of the overall mass of a small internal
combustion engine; the simplification of the manu~
facture of a small internal combustion engine; the
reduction in both rotating and reciprocating masses
associated with the internal parts of a small internal
combustion engine; and the several above-noted
~LZCI ~92;~
ob~ects in similar environmen~s involving conversion bet~7een
the reciprocating motion of a piston and rotary motion of
a crankshaft such as ]arger or multiple c~linder internal
combustion engines compressors, steam engines and the like.
These as well as other objec-ts and advantageous features
of the present inven-tion will be in part apparent and in
part pointed out hereinafter.
According to the present invention there is provided
a method of fabricating and assembling a connecting rod
for coupling a crankshaft and piston, the method includes
the step of casting an aluminum connecting rod blank having
an opening near each end thereof and machining one of the
openings to a preferred size. A sleeve is then pressed
into the machined opening for frictionally engaging with
the rod, the sleeve having an inner surface. Acrankshaft
is formed having two shoulders on the offset crankpin portion
thereof for derining a race portion therebetween. The race
portion is machined, and a strip of rollers is wrapped about
the machined race portion. The sleeve is then passed over
the crankshaft and the rollers for concentric alignment
with the rollers and race portion so that the rollers are
confined by the race portion of the crankshaft, the inner
surface of the sleeve and the shoulders of the crankshaft.
Fig~ 1 is an expanded perspective view of a con-
necting rod and crankshaft assembly according to the present
invention; and
Fig. 2 is an exemplary block diagram illustrating
steps in the process of fabricating and assembling a
connecting rod for coupling a crankshaft and piston.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corres-
ponding parts throughout the several views of the drawing.
The exemplifications set out herein illustrate
a prefexred embodiment of the invention in one form thereof
in a small internal combustion engine
- 3 -
mab/~
2Z
--4--
environment and such exemplifications are not to be
construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure or
the scope of the invention in an~ manner.
Referring to the drawing generally, a connecting
rod 11 is first cast of aluminum or similar material
of a lightweight nature and of inadequate hardness to
form a roller bearing race with the connecting ro~
blank having openings 13 and 15 near opposite ends
thereof. The opening 13 is then reamed or bored to a
preferred internal diameter and steel sleeve 17 is
press fit within the opening 13. A roller or sleeve
bearing assembly 19 may be positioned within the
opening 15. A series of rollers 27 is then positioned
about the inner bearing race portion 25 as by wax
bonding the rollers to a strip and wrapping the strip
about the crankpin an~ the connecting rod 11 and
associated sleeve moved into their final aligned
position with the bearing race portion 25 to trap the
rollers 27 therebetween. Further àssembly such as
passing a piston wrist pin through the bearing l9 and
assembling the crank connecting rod and piston within
an engine housing may occur at any convenient time in
the assembly process.
Positioning the rollers 27 about crankshaft 23
and thereafter aligning the sleeve and cranksha~t
traps the rollers between sleeve 17 and inner bearing
race 25. The sleeve 17 has an inner surface 29 which
forms the outer bearing race and the cylindrical
surface 25 of crankshaft 23 forms an inner bearing
race with the cylindrical surface of the inner
bearing race 25 heing generally parallel to and
displaced from the crankshaft a~is of rotation 31
~Z~Z2
further ~ournalling of the crankshaft 23 may occur in
any conventional manner. Crankshaft 23 includes the
enlarged crankshaft portions 33 and 35 which trap the
rollers 27 in an axial direction while the sleeve 17
confines those rollers radially inwardly and the
inner bearing race 25 confines rollers 27 radially
outwardly. So long as no further substantial axial
movement between the sleeve 17 and cylindrical
surface 25 occurs, the rollers 27 will remain trapped
therebetween. The piston pin bosses restrain the
axial movement of the rod after engine assembly.
Surfaces 25 and 29 are typically hardened.
The cost of the aluminum connecting rod 11 and
steel liner 17 with the opening 13 bored and the
liner 17 positioned therein is about the same as the
cost of a stamped connecting rod blank before the
hardening and grinding which is required with such
stamped steel connecting rods and therefore the cost
of these two steps is totally eliminated by the
present invention. The mass of such a steel connecting
rod is about two and one-half times the mass of the
aluminum connecting rod 11 and that mass reduction
also results in a reduction of the mass oE the
crankshaft counterweight 37 thereby reducing the
shaking forces in the engine.
In summary, then, an improved connecting rod
arrangement of reduced mass and cost as well as
improvements in connecting rod and crankshaft assembly
techniques have been disclosed meeting the objects
and advantageous features set out hereinbefore as
well as others and it will be apparent that modifica-
tions as to the precise configurations, shapes and
22
details mav be made hy those having ordinary ~kill in
the art witho~lt departing from the spirit of the
invention or the ~cope thereof as set out by the
claim~ which follow.
